Hurricane Diaries

[sandmarken]

Timeframe: June-July 1941

Unit: Grupul 7 Vânătoare, 53rd Escadrila 

Aircraft: Hurricane MK II

Duration: 7 Missions

Author: Sandmarken

 

Required: Siege and Liberation, Hurricane MK II collector plane

 

Background: Romania ordered 50 Hawker Hurricanes from Britain in 1939, only twelve were delivered before the country became part of the Axis. These aircraft were assigned to the 53rd Escadrila (Squadron). At the start of Operation Barbarossa, Escadrila 53 used its Hurricanes to defend the Black Sea coast, particularly the harbor at Constanţa. The squadron also provided escort for Romanian bombers and carried out air superiority missions. In the first ten days of combat, the 53rd Squadron managed to score 35 air victories without suffering any combat losses.

 

With some limitations due to map, Il2-engine and available aircraft, all missions in this campaign are based on or inspired by the recorded actions of the 53rd Squadron during the first days of Operation Barbarossa. The unit’s historical home airfield at Buzău lies about 80 km outside the boundaries of our Odessa map, so the nearest airfield at Galați is used instead. 

 

This campaign is made together with @AndreiTomescu. He has done most of the historical research, testing, mission suggestions and also written many of the mission briefings. This campaign could not have been made without the help of a trusted Romanian historian! 

 

Install: Download the file, extract it and put the data folder in your main il2 folder. 

 

Skins: Some skins are needed for this campagin, made by @E69_julian57 and Rostic. Many thx to them for good work! 

 

 

File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Q2ng4cukJRx9V0JF9HcEa-gs-garUSK/view?usp=sharing

 

 

Some notes: Do not hide the HUD as it will give vital information about the mission! 

The AI sometimes have a hard time landing at Galati, but the mission will always be complete if the player lands. 

 

Please tell me if you find bugs!

 

I will recommend the romanian voice mod for this campaign!

Edited November 25, 2025 by sandmarken

[AndreiTomescu]

good job, mate! please don't forget about the..... Little Brother of this campaign 😉 

Edited November 25, 2025 by AndreiTomescu

[Aardvark]

Outstanding! 

[AndreiTomescu]

Mandatory for this campaign:

- Siege and Liberation module

- Hurricane Mk2 collector aircraft

Optional:

Romanian radio chatter, free, available in Mods section of this forum

[Elem]

What on Earth do I have to do to complete mission 5 Vanatori? Flown it multiple times now, shot down up to 4 Pe-2s have flown home, landed and never get "mission success"? The AI allies just circle endlessly over the sea until they run out of fuel, then bail into the sea. The AI Pe-2s just circle endlessly over their target without dropping bombs? Something is clearly amiss?

[sandmarken]

8 minutes ago, Elem said:

What on Earth do I have to do to complete mission 5 Vanatori? Flown it multiple times now, shot down up to 4 Pe-2s have flown home, landed and never get "mission success"? The AI allies just circle endlessly over the sea until they run out of fuel, then bail into the sea. The AI Pe-2s just circle endlessly over their target without dropping bombs? Something is clearly amiss?

Hello! Historically, the squadron flew to Constanța after this mission. This is not on the map, so you are supposed to end it in the air. The mission is complete when you run out of ammo. I figured since it's so hard to shoot down Pe-2s with .303 that would be a good trigger to end it. I will update the campaign soon, and I can put in an instruction or make another end to the mission. Thanks for the heads-up!

[CzechTexan]

8 hours ago, sandmarken said:

or make another end to the mission. Thanks for the heads-up!

If I have a situation like this, I would order the planes to fly to the map's edge in the Constanta direction.  When the player reaches a designated area, that will trigger success.

[Jaegermeister]

1 hour ago, CzechTexan said:

If I have a situation like this, I would order the planes to fly to the map's edge in the Constanta direction.  When the player reaches a designated area, that will trigger success.

I have done the same thing a couple of times. Then display a message saying Campaign Complete... etc.

[sandmarken]

5 hours ago, CzechTexan said:

If I have a situation like this, I would order the planes to fly to the map's edge in the Constanta direction.  When the player reaches a designated area, that will trigger success.

 

3 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

I have done the same thing a couple of times. Then display a message saying Campaign Complete... etc.

This is actually what IS the end right now 😉 but you are allowed to end the mission when you run out of ammo. 

[SYN_Vander]

Our squad is looking for an early war, coop campaign. Any chance you could make this into a Coop campaign? I'm willing to do it myself, but I would need the .mission files.

[sandmarken]

1 hour ago, SYN_Vander said:

Our squad is looking for an early war, coop campaign. Any chance you could make this into a Coop campaign? I'm willing to do it myself, but I would need the .mission files.

Ofc! Im away from the computer until atleast next weekend unfortunately.  I have the .mission files stored localy. @AndreiTomescu might have the version with .mission files? 

It should be easy to convert it to co-op, but in missions where you fly wingman, the waypoint triggers can be a little small to hit if you plan to fly as leader unless you fly with icons. An easy fix would be to make them bigger.

 

[SYN_Vander]

25 minutes ago, sandmarken said:

Ofc! Im away from the computer until atleast next weekend unfortunately.  I have the .mission files stored localy. @AndreiTomescu might have the version with .mission files? 

It should be easy to convert it to co-op, but in missions where you fly wingman, the waypoint triggers can be a little small to hit if you plan to fly as leader unless you fly with icons. An easy fix would be to make them bigger.

 

Thanks sandmarken, no need to hurry.

[sandmarken]

26 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

Thanks sandmarken, no need to hurry.

No worries! I used to make all the campaign co-op to play with a friend. If I still have them, I can upload them for those campaigns as well.

[AndreiTomescu]

Hi, Vander. I'll be glad to sent you the files you need, but i'm afraid you'll have to be precise. The campaign itself is downloadable, so surely that's not what you need. Should I look for am earlier version, that should contain some files .mission ?

Edited December 22, 2025 by AndreiTomescu

[sandmarken]

1 hour ago, AndreiTomescu said:

Hi, Vander. I'll be glad to sent you the files you need, but i'm afraid you'll have to be precise. The campaign itself is downloadable, so surely that's not what you need. Should I look for am earlier version, that should contain some files .mission ?

Yes that is what he is looking for. All version i sent to you for testing shoud contain the .mission. ofc earlier versions wasn't the finished version, but i probably sent it or something very simular before i uploaded the campaign. No worries if you do not have it I can send it when im back home. 

[sandmarken]

27 minutes ago, AndreiTomescu said:

So the He-112, despite lacking belly armor , was tasked with ground attack during operation Munchen, and gallantly did this until most were damaged/lost.

Having none in GB, such missions could not be portrayed respecting historical accuracy.

You see them in hurricane diaries 😉

[AndreiTomescu]

20 minutes ago, sandmarken said:

You see them in hurricane diaries

Yes, YES indeed! A wonderful skin, and the He-112 is alive in the Hurricane Diaries campaign.

[jokash]

I have Hurricane Diaries and was thinking of doing it next.Shame that its a Huricane mk2 instead of mk1 though.Curious about which plane is supposed to represent the He112? Spitfire V?

[sandmarken]

11 minutes ago, jokash said:

I have Hurricane Diaries and was thinking of doing it next.Shame that its a Huricane mk2 instead of mk1 though.Curious about which plane is supposed to represent the He112? Spitfire V?

The difference should not be that big between the Mk 1 and 2. The Romanian Hurricanes were brand new (unlike many soviet lendlease), had a constant pitch propeller (so not the very early type), and the performance they had against the Soviets was a whopping 35 kills for 0 losses in the first 10 days. It feels in no way superior to the soviet crafts witch is also probably performing better than the real planes.

 

The He 112 is represented by MC.202s with 20mm and a skin that, to me, makes it very convincing. It serves no major role in the campaign, but it's there to represent the squadrons that used it.

Edited yesterday at 01:18 PM by sandmarken

[AndreiTomescu]

unlike the pretty worn off but refurbished E4s and E7s (resealed! 🙂 ) bought from germany, the Hurricanes were indeed new, and what's more important, upgraded to the contract demands, exactly like Sandmarken said, with constant pitch propeller, but! with only 8 MG 7,7 mm (.303 British). So you should not choose the extra MGs in options. otherwise, they were more close to Mk 2 than to Mk 1. The Brits took the payment in gold Lei (ro curency, but gold coins) and the price was pretty premium, so they delivered the best machines they could. The remaining airframes build for ro but took over by the RAF were labeled Mk 2.

@jokash taking this facts into consideration, and also your passion for the exact , exact fact (if i remember right, you were complaining about the Mosquitos running at 200m instead of 50m, right? 🙂 ), a passion you share with Sandmarken, i am surly sure that the Hurricane Mk 2 provided in-game is the most accurate youv can get. the Mk 1 version would be less accurate.

[AndreiTomescu]

The russian delivered Hurricanes were a bit shamefull, but, of course, welcomed in times of dire need. They were worn out, not repaired properly very often, but.....for free, so......

Luckly the soviet mechanics managed to repair, upgrade even those machines, mostly in terms of weapons. 

The particular characteristic that the hurricanes had was a special type of glycol used as coolant. Lose that, due to damage or belly landing, for ex, and the aircraft was grounded. The romanians failed to produce a proper replacement. However, when Germany conquered Yugoslavia, they captured some Hurricanes, and sold 4 pieces (1 lost on the way) to romania, also at a steep price. But also along came some of that glycol, so the remaining planes continued to serve as Black Sea defence force even after the capture of Odessa

Edited 21 hours ago by AndreiTomescu
spelling

[MDzmitry]

19 минут назад, AndreiTomescu сказал:

The russian delivered Hurricanes were a bit shamefull, but, of course, welcomed in times of dire need. They were worn out, not repaired properly very often, but.....for free, so......

The Soviets weren't particularly fond of the Hurri's performance, calling it a wonderous machine that managed somehow to gain no altitude in a climb and no speed in a dive.

[Sashka13]

11 часов назад, AndreiTomescu сказал:

 but.....for free, so......

Бесплатным даже сыр в мышеловке не бывает! Если мне не изменяет память то Россия (как правопреемница бывшего СССР) сравнительно недавно окончательно расплатилась за долги тех времён.

[AndreiTomescu]

55 minutes ago, Sashka13 said:

If I remember, then Russia (as the successor of the former USSR) relatively recently finally paid for the debts of those times.

really?? didn't know that, sorry. Well, then it's a real pitty. Those Hurricanes were good machines compared to early/pre war Soviet types, but obivious more modern types, like the Yak-1, were much, much more superior. Delivering them in a poor state, however, didn't help much. Might be a sign that the fabled Niemen free french squadron choose the Yak-3 as their plane.

 

Edited 9 hours ago by AndreiTomescu

[jokash]

19 hours ago, AndreiTomescu said:

@jokash taking this facts into consideration, and also your passion for the exact , exact fact (if i remember right, you were complaining about the Mosquitos running at 200m instead of 50m, right? 🙂 ), a passion you share with Sandmarken, i am surly sure that the Hurricane Mk 2 provided in-game is the most accurate youv can get. the Mk 1 version would be less accurate.

Well i dont know the exact details of the mk1's the Romanians used,only that they were mk1's.I didn't know they differed that much from first series mk1's.Still before i knew that i naturally wished that we had the closest version in perfomance.I wouldn't like playing battle of Britain with Bf109F2.The mk2 had about 200hp more than mk1 afaik.